Standing a Ghost of a Chance
by HamClad
Summary: To be honest, Pokemon was the last thing on my mind when I died. And yet, here I am in the region of Sinnoh. But the best part, other than aiming to become the best ghost-type specialist that Sinnoh has ever laid witness to? Trolling people, of course!


So yeah, apparently you can die if you fall off the roof of a two-story building. Who knew?

I swear, it was business as usual. I was setting up my latest prank, everything was fine, all the water balloons and donkey-shaped pinatas and rubber sharks were in their designated places, my best friend was just getting out of his car with his girlfriend...and suddenly I just slipped off the roof. I didn't even get to use the water balloons, which sucks, because I spent the entire day filling them with a mixture of rotten eggs and liquified dog poop, and it was going to be hilarious watching them land all over my best friend's crotch.

But the point is, I died. When my head hit the pavement, I felt a brief flash of pain, and then, nothing. Just darkness as far as the eye could see.. After what felt like an eternity of floating in complete nothingness, I saw a light that grew brighter and brighter. And as I was moved closer and closer to the light, all I could think about was how cliche this whole situation was. I mean, come on, seriously, a light? Might as well bust out the singing babies with wings if you're going that far. But when I reached the end of the light, I was reborn, kicking and screaming, as Shaden Lacroix Ternel. Which meant that the light was actually the end of a woman's, y'know. Gross.

Of course, being stuck in an infantile body, not being able to communicate except by crying, and, well, the less said about my bowel functions, the better, was a complete nightmare, along with the constant boredom that went with not being able to do anything other than move about my stubby little appendages and make gurgling noises from my mouth. I almost went insane by the end of infancy.

But compared to when I was a kid, too young and impulsive to fully use my inherent innocence to its fullest extent? When I reached the age where I could at least crawl and make semi-coherent words burble from my little pie-hole, it was safe to say that I was worse than before in my previous life, if that was even possible. I was a little shit then, but now? I was everywhere and anywhere all at once, reaching into things I probably shouldn't.

My mother and father were probably saints for being able to put up with me without strangling me to death or something, and luckily for them, I mellowed out as I grew older and matured, somewhat. Little did they know that my lust for schadenfreude was only being repressed, cultivated and honed into prank-obsessed mania.

So I have a confession to make. You've probably already guessed it, but I have a pretty severe case of ADHD. And somehow, that developed into a desire to become a human irritant. Nothing major, I wasn't a sadist or anything like that, but I did the little things. Pranks. Being annoying. Pushing buttons, both figuratively and literally. Finding loopholes and exploits. That sort of stuff. Not causing any permanent harm, at least not physically, or taking advantage of any mental triggers or extreme phobias. That was a big no-no, in my book. I knew when to toe the line. And while I did step over it sometimes, or gave it a little nudge, I generally stayed within my boundaries.

Sometimes I would use my powers for good. Bullies were safe targets that I could let loose on, for example. And while I admit that I'm not the most...oriented...person, I know when to separate work from play. Or mix them together, like when I got my major in Psychology, which I find hilariously ironic.

My second childhood was pretty similar to my first one, in retrospect, until I woke up one day, and found this blue cat-thing, with a funny little yellow tuft of fur on the end of its tail, looking up at my crib with eyes brimming with curiosity. It let out an inquisitive growl, tilting its head to the side slightly. And then its fur crackled with electricity. I was shocked, pun intended. What the heck was this monstrosity? I mean it was pretty cute, but still! Its ears were almost as big as its face, for goodness sake! And it could apparently be used as a taser! Was it some secret government experiment that escaped from confinement, or something? And what was it doing here in our house?! Needless to say, I panicked. Which meant that I started bawling at the top of my lungs, flailing my arms and legs about in an attempt to get away from this mysterious and frightening creature.

In response to my cries, my parents came rushing in to see what was going on. They crowded around my crib, cooing at me reassuringly and trying to figure out what was wrong. As my mother cradled me in her arms, my father looked around the room, spotting the creature-thing cowering on the floor, covering its ears with its paws. "Oh,'' he said. "He just got spooked by Leo. I guess it is the first time he's seeing a Shinx."

And that was when my mind was completely blown, when I realized that, of all the worlds to be reincarnated in, I was in the freaking Pokemon Universe.

Everything changed. People in this world lived side-by-side with literal monsters. They battled each other with monsters. Legends walked the earth. Everything I knew was flipped on its side.

As soon as I could walk, I got into any book I could find, to teach myself how to read, and ultimately, to learn anything and everything I could about pokemon. Luckily, my father had an entire library's collection of books, from textbooks to fantasy novels. Apparently, he was as much of a bookworm as I was. Oh, and he was also the director for the Valley Windworks Power Plant. Basically that dude you meet in the game that wears a lab coat and glasses and gets kidnapped by Team Galactic, which is pretty cool, and also worrying. I wonder if that has already happened, or if it will in the future, or if it happened at all. I kinda forgot to mention that we apparently live in the Sinnoh region, in Floaroma Town, which kinda blew me away even more when I found out.

As to my parents, or more accurately, my second parents, I do love them very much, though it's kinda weird if you consider the fact that I'm technically almost as old as they are. I do miss my dad though, the first one I mean, even though he did die the year before my own death. Cancer's a bitch that needs to be stopped, seriously. My mom? Not so much, considering she left us when I was born.

My father's name is Walter Ternel, and he's one of the top scientists assigned to the Power Plant, aside from being a kick-ass director, who specializes in mechanical engineering. He's really smart, but at the same time, he's kind of an airhead, in the sense that he forgets to shower sometimes, and often locks himself out of the Power Plant. On the other hand, Camilla Ternel, my mother, is pretty level headed, and honestly? It's weird actually having a mother figure in my life. I mean, my dad did a pretty good job of raising me, but he could only do so much.

But right now, I'm currently trying to figure out what the heck this world even is to worry about other things. In the future, I'll probably start to miss everything I lost in the life I left behind, but at this moment, everything is new and unexplored, and I'm caught up in seeing where this new life is gonna take me.


End file.
